"The isolation, the fear, the uncertainty, the economic turmoil -
they all cause or could cause psychological distress," said Devora
Kestel, director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) mental
health department.
Presenting a U.N. report and policy guidance on COVID-19 and mental
health, Kestel said an upsurge in the number and severity of mental
illnesses is likely, and governments should put the issue "front and
centre" of their responses.
"The mental health and wellbeing of whole societies have been
severely impacted by this crisis and are a priority to be addressed
urgently," she told reporters at a briefing.
The report highlighted several regions and sections of societies as
vulnerable to mental distress - including children and young people
isolated from friends and school, healthcare workers who are seeing
thousands of patients infected with and dying from the new
coronavirus.
Emerging studies and surveys are already showing COVID-19's impact
on mental health globally. Psychologists say children are anxious
and increases in cases of depression and anxiety have been recorded
in several countries.
Domestic violence is rising, and health workers are reporting an
increased need for psychological support.
Reuters last week reported from interviews with doctors and nurses
in the United States who said either they or their colleagues had
experienced a combination of panic, anxiety, grief, numbness,
irritability, insomnia and nightmares.
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Outside of the health sector, the WHO report said many people are distressed by
the immediate health impacts and the consequences of physical isolation, while
many others are afraid of infection, dying, and losing family members.
Millions of people are facing economic turmoil, having lost or being at risk of
losing their income and livelihoods, it added. And frequent misinformation and
rumours about the pandemic and deep uncertainty about how long it will last are
making people feel anxious and hopeless about the future.
It outlined action points for policy-makers to aim "to reduce immense suffering
among hundreds of millions of people and mitigate long-term social and economic
costs to society".
These included redressing historic under-investment in psychological services,
providing "emergency mental health" via remote therapies such as
tele-counselling for frontline health workers, and working proactively with
people known to have depression and anxiety, and with those at high risk of
domestic violence and acute impoverishment.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland, Editing by William Maclean)
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